Who we work with

Our long-standing, collaborative partnerships with UK and international institutions enable us to deliver our internationally-recognised programmes, and share best practices for contemporary dramatic arts training and theatre-making.

Conservatoire for Dance and Drama

RADA is a founding member of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (CDD). Students on higher education programmes validated by King’s College London are also jointly registered with CDD.

Within the Conservatoire there is a balance between the art forms of dance, drama and circus arts, and between classical and contemporary styles. Internationally renowned centres of training, CDD schools are also creative laboratories: they bring in national and international artists to work with students and support emerging writers, directors and choreographers in creating and showcasing new work. The other CDD schools are:

Birkbeck

RADA and Birkbeck run the MA Text and Performance in partnership. Birkbeck is a constituent college of the University of London and is situated opposite RADA on Malet Street. Students on the MA Text and Performance work with staff from both faculties and have access to the library and other facilities of both institutions. On graduation, students receive a postgraduate qualification from the University of London.

Federation of Drama Schools

RADA is a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools, founded in 2017 to represent conservatoire arts training in the UK.

All member schools offer vocational training for future professional performers, theatre-makers and theatre production practitioners. As members they must all adhere to the Federation’s core principles, including a commitment to equality and diversity, strong links to the industry, an emphasis on teaching practical skills to a professional standard, and a commitment to preparing students for a rapidly changing professional environment.

The Federation holds regular meetings of its member schools that focus on sharing best practice and research within the performing arts and training industry.

The Lir Academy, Trinity College Dublin

Established in 2011, The Lir Academy was developed by the partnership of Trinity College Dublin and the Cathal Ryan Trust and in association with RADA. It was born out of a recognised need for an academy of excellence within the island of Ireland and offers conservatoire-style training for the theatre and related professions with its philosophy of training and courses modelled on RADA.

Situated in the Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus at Grand Canal Dock, The Lir Academy offers three undergraduate degrees, three postgraduate degrees and an ever-increasing range of short courses in acting, voice, movement, technical theatre and audition preparation.

The Lir building includes two black box performance studios, a dance studio, five rehearsal spaces, technical workshop, woodwork and metal workshop, wardrobe department, design studio, music room, and a range of flexible teaching spaces to suit the training needs of theatre practitioners.

Students at The Lir come from very diverse backgrounds and are accepted on the basis of exceptional natural talent. A series of auditions and interviews form the basis of the admission process.

The Lir offers audition dates in Dublin, Belfast, London and New York. Dates in New York coincide with RADA audition dates.

For more information and to download application forms, please visit The Lir website, get in touch via email or follow The Lir on Twitter and Facebook.

New York University

For over 10 years, New York University Tisch School of the Arts has been collaborating with RADA to deliver a widely acclaimed Shakespeare in Performance programme. This course has given over 250 students from the United States the opportunity to become immersed for a semester in the world of Shakespeare, absorbing the skills necessary to tackle many areas of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre.

During the semester there are presentations involving song, dance, sonnets, combat, clowning, monologues and scene study. There are two play projects and the programme concludes with an ensemble studio production in one of the Academy's theatres.

The program contains a notable amount of one-to-one teaching, while the comprehensive series of skills classes offered reflects the 'conservatoire' training for which RADA is renowned.

This training is not available anywhere else in the United States, and New York University has designated it as "a learning opportunity that is second to none".

See a video of some recent Shakespeare in Performance students talking about the course and what it meant to them.

Further information

Recruitment is the direct responsibility of Tisch Special Programs. For more information, please visit the Tisch website.

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

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